Re: Too much postmaster prozesses / CPU near 100%

Michael,

> Maybe i dont have exactly described our Problem:
>
> With our "old" Server (MMX-233, 256MB RAM, Linux 2.2.16, Postgres
> 7.0.3)
> we dont had any Probs.
> After we run the new Server, some hours all things are ok.
> And then, suddenly the machine creates many postmaster-processes in
> a few seconds. Other System-Functions works now likewise not correct
> (top: CPU-Idle 62985,2 %; /etc/init.d/postmaster stop = failed;
> but /etc/init.d/postmaster start = postmaster already running;
> "/proc not mounted"; "too many open files in system"; <-- examples)
> We must "crash" the postmaster (kill -15 or kill-9) and restart
> apache
> and start postmaster again.
> And then, all things works correct again for some time (minutes or
> hours).
> (Info: we run vacuumdb 1-2 times a day).

Hmmm ... double-check your postgresql.conf parameters, and log at a high
debug level when you start up. I once had a similar problem to this (on
7.1.0) that was a result of bad (conflicting) postgresql.conf parameters
I had set. PostgreSQL kept starting and spawning extra processes, but
was not accessable from psql.

> I think, the problem is handling of shared memory either in Postgres
> 7.1.3
> or in Kernel 2.4.x or both.

I doubt it's that simple, although you may check your *specific* kernel
version ... the reason why 2.4.x has been upgraded so many times in the
last 7 months is to fix bugs. I have been using 2.4.4. with no
problems. So, steps from here:

1. Restart the postgresql server at a high debug level, checking the
logs carefully for bootup and/or broken connection errors.
2. Re-install the server, reverting to 2.2.18 to see if it's a
kernel-specific problem. Or upgrade to 2.4.13, either way.
3. Contact SuSE professional services to see if they can help you.
They're expensive, but good and you won't have the language barrier.

> Don't know how to fix the Prob. Consultants from Hewlett-Packard AND
> RedHat don't know too. Info: Our new Server HP-LC2000r is certified
> with RedHat7.1 and does NOT run with kernel 2.2.x :-((

Hmmm. Have you tried getting RedHat to refer you to their RHDB
division? Those people should be intimately familiar with PostgreSQL.
I wouldn't expect HP to know anything, myself.

-Josh Berkus

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